Max Dowman at Arsenal: What next for teenager – how to look after a precious talent?’

Being established in the first team at such a young age does not mean that future progress will not come without potential setbacks.

Myles Lewis-Skelly broke into the Gunners team last season at the age of 18 and played and scored for England.

However, this season, despite being a Champions League regular, he has only made one appearance in the Premier League.

Arsenal winger Ethan Nwaneri is the only player to make his Premier League debut at a younger age than Dowman (15 years and 181 days; 54 days younger than his team-mate).

He scored nine goals in 37 appearances for Arsenal as a 17-year-old last season, but joined Marseille on loan in January after struggling for game time this term.

Ward said the Dowman family “has to get used to turning points of disappointment.”

“It’s important for parents to handle this situation properly and realize that this could end at some point due to injury,” he said.

“There might be a point where he doesn’t get a lot of playing time and so he might have to play for the under-21 or under-23 teams. So how do you deal with that?”

“To be fair to Arteta, when he played Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly it was a necessity because they had injuries. “That experience helped Arteta because you have to be a really brave manager to play a kid.

“For Arsenal it’s about managing the ups and downs because it’s not a straight line. I hope this isn’t the best thing that’s happened to him as a player, but for a lot of players it’s been the best thing in their career.”

Many of the players among the Premier League’s top 10 youngest ever goalscorers have gone on to have highly successful careers, including James Milner, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Michael Owen.

But Dowman’s previous record holder, James Vaughan, spent most of his career in the EFL, retiring at League Two Tranmere at the age of 32.

“I don’t think it’s possible to remain fearless” Vaughan told Sky Sports in 2021., external “When you’re a regular first-team player, people’s wages, jobs and careers are on the line.

“You know you’re responsible for some of that and you have to take that responsibility. But as a kid you don’t have that, so you can go out and play football and enjoy football.”